Apple’s 4th quarter earnings report broke records and sent the company’s stock price to another record high closing above $500 for the first time ever with Apple’s market cap reaching close to $500 billion.

However, Apple’s massive success has had some unforeseen side effects, mainly massive skewing of important market indices like the S&P 500. Since 1957 the S&P has published the prices of 500 large-cap stocks traded on both the New York Stock Exchange or the NASDAQ. The S&P earnings increased 6.6 percent year-over-year during the 4th quarter with Apple’s monster earnings included. Without Apple, the S&P only increased 2.8%.

Apple has effectively become so large, and recorded earnings so great, that financial institutions are now ignoring the company. Apple’s influence becomes even more apparent when pairing the S&P 500 down to just tech companies. With Apple S&P tech companies had an estimated 21% annual earnings increase. Without Apple, that number shrinks to 5%.

"What’s happening with Apple is real, because Apple’s earnings are real and any wealth accruing to Apple gets into the hands of U.S. shareholders. But to actually be able to look at trends and look at what’s happening to [other companies], not just the one that’s so exceptional, it is important to strip Apple out." — Barry Knapp of Barclays Capital.

It isn't often a company performs so well the analysts ignore its performance. Add that to the number of firsts Apple has racked up in the last 10 years.

Not really that accurate. I know it is impressive to look at and I love apple and their products. But if you were to realistically take apple out of the picture, you would have to assume that some other tech company would be in it’s place and fill in the gap. It might be slightly lower because apple has done so much innovating. But know one could ever realistically tell us what the market would look like without apple.

Not really that accurate. I know it is impressive to look at and I love apple and their products. But if you were to realistically take apple out of the picture, you would have to assume that some other tech company would be in it’s place and fill in the gap. It might be slightly lower because apple has done so much innovating. But know one could ever realistically tell us what the market would look like without apple.

So you’re saying that Apple never existed, we would just have this massive hole missing from technology all of these years? No, someone else would’ve made up for it. Like I stated we might not be as advanced as we are now, but some company would make up the hole that apple fills now. That’s how it works. Other company’s do well when others fail.